Dean's Notebook - Sarah L. Szanton, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Under Dr. Szanton’s leadership, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is ranked No. 1 nationally by U.S. News & World Report for its master’s and doctor of nursing practice programs and No. 3 globally by QS World University. Dr. Szanton holds a joint appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

In 2022, Dr. Szanton launched the impactful Policy Honors Program to help students develop advocacy skills in influencing policies that improve health. She is also chartering the creation of an innovative policy institute to advance health policy leadership and research for global nurse leaders and scientists.

As an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Dr. Szanton helped shape the pioneering Pathway to PhD Nursing Scholars Program to accelerate diversity within PhD-prepared nurses, and she established the Term Professorship for Rising Faculty to fund distinguished faculty in their research and leadership.

A number of years ago, while making house calls as a nurse practitioner to homebound, low-income elderly patients in West Baltimore, Dr. Szanton noticed that their environmental challenges were often as pressing as their health challenges. Since then she has developed a program of research at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing on the role of the environment and stressors in health disparities in older adults, particularly those trying to “age in place” or stay out of a nursing home. The result is a program called CAPABLE, which combines handyman services with nursing and occupational therapy to improve mobility, reduce disability, and decrease healthcare costs. She has tested the program's effectiveness through grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Innovations Office at the Center on Medicaid and Medicare Services. She has major funding from the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation to build infrastructure for the CAPABLE program. She has also conducted a study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, of whether food and energy assistance improve health outcomes for low-income older adults. A former health policy advocate, Dr. Szanton aims her research and publications toward changing policy for older adults and their families.

A woman with a mission to serve, Councilwoman Danielle McCray represents the 2nd District, which covers Northeast Baltimore, the Pulaski Industrial Area, and a portion of Southeast Baltimore. Danielle is the Chair of the Health, Environment, & Technology Committee and a member of the Ways & Means Committee. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Suicide Prevention Legislative Workgroup and is Chair of Baltimore City’s Domestic Violence Coordinating Council.

Danielle learned the importance of hard work, civic engagement and public service from her family at a young age. Throughout adolescence, Danielle assisted her mother in running their local community association, understanding the significance of this work when the community successfully halted plans to close a neighborhood recreation center.

A champion for tax sale reform, she began working on legislation to create a tax sale exemption program right away. Unanimously passed by the Council, the landmark program shields our must vulnerable residents—especially our seniors and disabled population—from losing their homes to the tax sale system. She was able to increase the annual household income threshold ensuring that no homeowner in-need would be excluded from the exemption. 

Since then, Danielle has passed a plethora of bills aimed at protecting our workers, tackling the violence against women epidemic, uplifting women in public service, addressing national public health emergencies, and confronting the often-overshadowed mental health crisis amongst other imperative matters.

Danielle is a daughter of Baltimore. She is the product of the Baltimore City Public School system and is a proud graduate of the prestigious Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. She currently resides in the Waltherson Community.